Mysterious Book Report No. 335 – The Detonator

The Detonator by Vincent Zandri

Polis Books, $25.99, 287 pages, ISBN 978-1-943818-88-4

Psychological thrillers are among the most popular of modern crime fiction works, because they give readers a long and hard look into the hearts and minds and motives of people who are far outside of the usual norms of society. The Irish and Brits call them nutters . . . while we Americans simply call them what they are . . . crazy. We’re fascinated and fearful, all at the same time, and that makes them irresistible to us, for humans are curious by nature. It takes a masterful writer however, to look into that kind of a heart of darkness and create artful entertainment from such bleak material.

The Detonator, by Vincent Zandri is an electrifying psychological thriller involving a demolitions expert named Ike Singer. He’s a man whose job was Master Blaster, the guy who blows those obsolete old multi-story buildings to smithereens, so that new ones can be put up in their place. He was at the top of his profession fifteen years ago when a personal indiscretion resulted in an attempted murder and suicide. It meant the death of his business partner and college best friend . . . and the loss of his license to practice the trade he loved so well . . . the occupation Ike Singer spent his whole life learning. He’s been trying to make up for it ever since. The father of a child named Henry—who suffers from a rare premature aging disease which has made him an old man with a terminal life expectancy of just twenty statue years—Ike and his wife Ellen are doing their best to make Henry’s last weeks and days of life as happy as possible. Ike, having found satisfaction as a bomb disposal expert with the Albany, New York Police Department, has put the past behind, moved on with his life and kept his marriage intact. He’s found peace. But that peace is based on lies. Lies which threaten to come to the surface when he and his family become the targets of a brilliant psychopath with a PhD in Super Nano-Thermite Explosives . . . she’s the daughter of his old partner . . . who wants to extract revenge for her family’s troubles by blowing up the Singer family and the City of Albany too. The tension and suspense ratchets up with each page in this exciting, fast-paced and propulsive thriller that’s a blast, (Sorry, I can’t help myself sometimes . . .) from start to finish. It’s a dynamite read all the way. Enjoy!